Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Pillow
Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)
Not on view
This pillow was unearthed from a site of the Jingjue state, which once existed at the northwest frontier of China. The fabric illustrates the highly sophisticated technique of five-color woven silk. Although the weave perpetuates an earlier Western Han tradition, the incorporation of more than two or three colors represents an advancement. Also exceptional are the characters interwoven among the stylized clouds. Though fragmentary here, the full inscription reads, “may a marriage between nobles prosper for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years and benefit sons and grandsons”.
#211. Pillow with auspicious words
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